"Study: Half of Americans Leaving Landlines"

Landline Phone

A recent study shows that almost half of Americans are living in households that use only or mostly mobile phones, while the remainder of the population is slow to convert.

The findings came from the unlikeliest of sources: the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The institution conducted its National Health Interview Study throughout the year, interviewing people about everything from their state of health, insurance status, and even what phones they use in their households. They published the results based on the data they have gathered from more than 20,000 households during the first half of 2012.

Their findings show that over half of the sample population (51.8 percent) used mobile phones for all or most phone calls. Specifically, 35.9 percent were wireless-only and 15.9 percent had a landline phone that they rarely used. The total is less than 2 percent more than for the same period in 2011.

The small is contributed to how the older population remains loyal to landlines, while the younger people have wireless phones as their only phone. The percentage of people with just mobile phones significantly drops as age increases: 25 percent of those aged 45-64 were wireless only, and only 10 percent of those older than 64.

The highest percentage of people who only have mobile phones appears to be among adults living with unrelated adult roommates at 75.9 percent. This is almost three times the percentage of people who live only with spouses or other adult family members.

Source: CDC, via NBC News